Bassey rejects father's plea

Bassey rejects father's plea

Fulham and Super Eagles defender, Calvin Bassey is not sway by the emotional plea by a man who supposedly claimed to be his father and has flatly rejected any plan for a reunion.

The man, Kingsley Ughelumba, is seeking to reunite with his four children, including the Super Eagles defender, whom he says he has been separated from for over 18 years.

Ughelumba, who reopened his long-running appeal, speaking about the painful estrangement from his children, which he attributed to a rift between him and their mother, Ebere Bassey.

The native of Ihiala Local Government Area in Anambra State said his first three sons—Elvis Ughelumba, Mathew Ughelumba and Calvin—were born in Italy, while his youngest son, Michael, was born in Ireland. 

According to him, the family lived together briefly in London before marital issues led to their separation.

“We had husband-and-wife arguments. I went to work and before I returned, she had left with the children,” Ughelumba said in a viral social media interview.

“She only reached out in 2017 when my children needed Nigerian passports. I sent all my documents and bought all their flight tickets. When they stayed with me then, I never told them their mum did anything to me. She has muted me since he signed for a football club.”

But Bassey is not convinced with the man's plea for a reunion.

"My father is just not in my life — we lived with him, but that was when I was really young,”

“Since I was six, it has been mum and us boys. I knew that if I got the chance to put my name on the back of a shirt, I wanted it to be my mum’s name—my way of saying thank you.”